Searchable Goods Movement Timeline

Welcome to the METRANS Goods Movement Timeline. This is a searchable timeline of activities tied to goods movement, logistics and international trade based upon items from the popular press.

Given our location and the importance of this region as an international trade gateway, many of the entries pertain to Southern California. We do however draw from state and national press as well. Some articles' links may have expired, or you may have to pay a fee or register on the Web site where they originally appeared to access the complete article. Our goal however is to provide the researcher with enough information to track significant events over time as they have occurred in key areas like legislation, finance, and security.

This timeline grew out of timelines initially developed for METRANS research projects in the area of goods movement. Earlier entries (before 2005) were therefore not prepared with a searchable database in mind and will be less detailed. We hope, however, that they remain a useful resource.

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Cross-border truckers wait hours in grief

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OTAY MESA, Calif. — Truck driver Mauricio Rivera, who hauls recreational trailers and manufacturing parts back and forth across the U.S.-Mexico border, said he waited five hours Friday in painfully slow gridlock.
“I’m dying of hunger,” he said as he finally jumped down from his cab in Otay Mesa and scurried to find a restroom. He emphasized it was time to say “Good afternoon,” rather than “Good morning,” by the time he got across the line he started in at 8 a.m. Friday.
“I never cross this late,” he said. “It’s taking way too much time.”
Rivera said that for those like himself, who try to make as many trips across the U.S.-Mexico border at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in any given day or week, the traffic slowdown was severely affecting business.
“Normally, I cross about six times a week, but this week, I could only cross three times because of the traffic,” he said. “It’s affecting us a lot.”
Truckers hauling goods across the Otay Mesa border are, inch by inch, crawling through up to six or seven hours of traffic, after a massive transfer of U.S. border agents reassigned to deal with an immigration surge.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Rivera, who has been crossing the border with goods and products for 10 years. Meanwhile, President Trump on Thursday backed off his threat to close parts or all of the U.S.-Mexico border — at least for now.
But the reshuffling of border agents to process the record number of migrant families entering the United States from Mexico has reduced Otay Mesa inspection lanes from 10 to eight, and reduced processing hours, slowing the flow of commercial traffic.
“It’s having a huge impact,” said Alejandra Mier y Teran, the executive director for the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce.
Mier y Teran said the industries most affected include auto, aerospace, medical devices, electronics and perishables, noting that it is currently berry season.
“When products are not delivered on time, the clients who purchase these goods will fine the manufacturer,” she said. “Someone will eventually be paying for that fine and, most likely, it will end up being the consumer.”
Inspections have squeezed the lanes as a result of a massive personnel shuffle at U.S. Customs and Border Protection to deal with record numbers of asylum-seeking families crossing the southwest border, the Customs and Border Protection agency said.
The agency has redeployed 750 officers from across the nation to help out in areas most affected by the surge — mainly in Texas.
“The indefinite reduction of processing lanes at the Otay Mesa commercial facility is due to this deployment,” Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.
Officials said the lane reduction, which began Monday, is “a temporary change in operations” but did not specify a time when things would return to normal.
The commercial traffic slowdown is spilling over into regular vehicle lanes and affecting other ports, such as San Ysidro, as people try to get around the long wait times.
“I think this is all because of the president, Donald Trump,” said Juan Carlos Valdez who regularly crosses the border. “I don’t think it’s going to resolve the problem, either.”
Carlos Valdez said he typically waits about an hour, but Friday, it took him 2 ½ hours to cross in the Ready Lane, an expedited processing lane for vehicle passengers who carry a special microchipped frequent traveler card.
“There is so much extra pollution given off into the air with so many cars waiting double the time there. It’s bad for the air and this community,” he said. Mier y Teran said about 30% of commercial trucks have not been able to cross in recent days because of the limited lanes and limited hours.
Usually, when commercial trucks get into the line at the Otay Mesa processing center, border agents will continue to work until all the trucks in line have been processed. In recent days, that has not been the case.
All commercial lanes have been closed at specific times, causing truckers to have to go back to their manufacturing plant, open up their truck and reinspect their product and reseal the product, at an extreme extra cost, said Mier y Teran.
Some drivers have been rescheduling their deliveries, said Braulio Bautista, who ferries electronic products from Tijuana. Bautista said he waited seven hours to cross with one load of TVs.
“The time I spend in the line is really bad. It’s really boring,” he said. “But the worst part is I can’t move as much product across the line because it’s taking me so long to cross.”
Fry writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

SCOTUS rules against forced arbitration in port trucker case

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The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled in favor of a Southern California truck driver who claimed he was wrongly forced into an arbitration agreement with a major carrier.

In an 8-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that independent driver Dominic Oliveira could not be compelled by New Prime Trucking to settle a dispute over back wages through forced arbitration. Oliveira filed a lawsuit in 2013 to have a dispute over unpaid wages decided in open court.

The decision could have lasting repercussions for the trucking industry at Southern California’s ports. Many companies hire workers who are independent contractors, not formal employees, and these workers are forced to settle disputes through arbitration.

The court’s opinion

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the opinion of the court, with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg adding a concurrent opinion. Justice Brett Kavanaugh did not participate in the vote.

The decision, which affirmed a ruling by First Circuit Court, means that Oliveira can pursue his case in open court and not be forced into arbitration that could not be subject to appeal. His lawsuit eventually became certified as a class action.

Labor groups and worker rights advocates are praising the court’s decision. In a joint statement, Justice for Port Drivers and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters hailed it as “a great victory for all workers in the transportation industry.”

An issue of classification

Classification of thousands of truck drivers as contractors, and not employees, has been an issue at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach for several years.

“Although we have consistently challenged employers’ attempts to compel private arbitration to avoid a public legal battle, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling makes it clear that employers cannot and should not require drivers to waive their right to their day in court,” the statement read.

Missouri-based New Prime’s argument was based on the Federal Arbitration Act, a 1926 law that established arbitration as a mostly binding agreement. However, as Gorsuch noted in his opinion, that law may not compel arbitration in disputes involving “contracts of employment” for certain transportation workers.

That term also led to a discussion by Gorsuch about a distinction that was rarely made 93 years ago. Did “contracts of employment” make a distinction between payroll employees and independent contractors?”

“At that time, the term ‘contract of employment’ usually meant nothing more than an agreement to perform work,” Gorsuch wrote. “The dictionaries of the era consistently afforded the word ’employment’ a broad construction, broader than may often be found in dictionaries today.”

The ruling could have a long-term effect on businesses, said Thomas Lenz, a partner with Cerritos-based law firm Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo.

“It’s potentially impactful because so many people are labeled as independent contractors these days,” said Lenz, who practices employment law and also teaches at USC’s Gould School of Law. “Many are misclassified, and the law could put them as employees, which could leave employers liable.”

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The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled in favor of a Southern California truck driver who claimed he was wrongly forced into an arbitration agreement with a major carrier.

In an 8-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that independent driver Dominic Oliveira could not be compelled by New Prime Trucking to settle a dispute over back wages through forced arbitration. Oliveira filed a lawsuit in 2013 to have a dispute over unpaid wages decided in open court.

Cal Cartage’s Wilmington warehouse facility will close and take 800 jobs with it

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California Cartage, a trucking and warehouse company at the Port of Los Angeles, has announced it will close its Wilmington warehouse in July 2019 where 800 people are currently employed, and the company is blaming the Teamsters Union for the closure.

The company, which is owned by NFI Industries, was involved in lease negotiations with L.A.’s Harbor Commission for the past three months. The L.A. City Council unanimously revoked the company’s lease at the site in October and ordered the Harbor Commission to include provisions in the future lease that prevented labor disruptions.

According to a company press release, the Teamsters, who have been attempting to unionize workers at the warehouse since at least 2016, “prevented a negotiated lease despite Cal Cartage’s willingness to agree to allow the employees to once again vote on whether to unionize.”

A vote on whether to form a union in 2016 fell short of its goal, an outcome the Teamsters blamed on the company breaking “numerous laws” including “unlawfully threatening and intimidating workers,” a statement from the Teamsters read.

In a settlement that will be considered by the Harbor Commission at its meeting on Jan. 24, Cal Cartage will have six months from the time the agreement is signed to wind down its operations at the Wilmington warehouse facility.

It’s unclear yet whether the company will attempt to negotiate a separate lease for its two trucking subsidiaries, California Cartage Express and K&R Transportation, to remain on the property.

“This is a very sad day for Cal Cartage, our employees, our customers and the Wilmington community,” said Sid Brown, CEO of NFI. “We have been fighting, with the help of our employees, for the past four months to negotiate a deal to keep this facility open long-term. This is not the outcome we wanted. Because of the Teamsters’ efforts, we now have been left with no other option but to shut down the Wilmington operation.”

Teamsters Port Division Director Fred Potter said the company was wise to vacate the property to make room for a company that he says will follow the law.

“NFI should act responsibly and stop pointing fingers at the Teamsters when its NFI that has continuously and persistently broken the law,” Potter said in a statement.

There have been seven labor strikes in recent years among Cal Cartage workers. In November 2018, six trucker drivers for the company filed minimum wage violation claims.

In September 2018, the company was ordered to pay $3.57 million to more than 1,400 workers after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation revealed it had failed to pay its workers a fair wage.

In May 2018, L.A. city leaders slammed the company for allegedly treating their workers badly.

In March 2016, Cal cartage was hit with a complaint from the National Labor Relations Board alleging that managers interrogated and threatened workers with retaliation for union organizing efforts.

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California Cartage, a trucking and warehouse company at the Port of Los Angeles, has announced it will close its Wilmington warehouse in July 2019 where 800 people are currently employed, and the company is blaming the Teamsters Union for the closure.

Who’s liable now? State warns distribution hubs to avoid working with truck fleets that owe back wages

The state agency that enforces workplace law has issued a warning to distribution facilities that they could be on the hook for future fines if they do business with trucking companies that violate wage laws.

The warning, issued Jan. 2 by the California Department of Industrial Relations and based on a law that went into effect the previous day, names 19 trucking companies that pick up containers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. These companies owe more than $1.7 million in back pay, fines and other charges related to employee compensation.

The warning, however, is for the trucking firms’ would-be customers. A retailer or distribution company that enters into a contract with these trucking companies would share in the blame – and the cost – if future violations are discovered.

“Companies are on notice that if they contract with a known wage thief, they will be held responsible for the exploitation of the drivers who carry their goods,” Julie Su, the California labor commissioner, said in a statement.

The outstanding judgments include unpaid wages, overtime pay, expenses and workers compensation payments. According to the state’s press release, some port trucking operators have misclassified employees as independent contractors to increase their profits.

Several truck fleet operators owe hundreds of thousands of dollars for multiple, outstanding violations. Krisda Inc. of Long Beach owes about $392,000 for four violations. Pacgran Inc., with addresses listed in Diamond Bar and Long Beach, owes more than $352,000 from five cases.

HRT Trucking, one of two companies listed that are not from Southern California, owes about $175,000 for three violations. The company’s home address is Houston. Absolute Intermodal in Phoenix owes about $124,000.

Other violators cited, with approximate amounts, are:

Perez Brothers Transport of Compton ($141,000)

MSTL Inc. of Gardena ($80,000)

LHB Trucking of South Gate ($80,000)

DLS International Services of Carson ($72,000)

Sprint Transports of Hacienda Heights ($61,000)

Climan Motor Freight of Long Beach ($28,000)

Harbor Choice Express of Gardena ($27,000)

GTD of Santa Fe Springs ($26,000)

Accolade Management of Gardena ($25,000)

Expedited Freight Services of Paramount ($24,000)

JD & LA Trucking of Wilmington ($18,000)

Coastal Trucking & Distribution of Gardena ($13,000)

Excel Trucking Services of Burbank ($9.000)

Container Intermodal Transport of Wilmington ($8,000)

Golden Tranz of Burbank ($6,000)

The warning to warehouse operators that could be prospective contractors with these trucking firms is the result of a new labor law that went into effect Jan. 1, specifically drafted to help workers who drive trucks based at the ports, DIR spokesperson Jeanne-Mairie Duval said in an email.

According to the DIR statement, since 2011 more than 1,000 claims for unpaid wages have been filed, with 448 of them resulting in decisions favorable to the truck drivers, resulting in more than $50 million in wages owed.

The $1.7 million in fines cited in Wednesday’s announcement are based on cases that have already been decided by the courts but have not yet been settled by the offending companies.

The state agency that enforces workplace law has issued a warning to distribution facilities that they could be on the hook for future fines if they do business with trucking companies that violate wage laws.

The warning, issued Jan. 2 by the California Department of Industrial Relations and based on a law that went into effect the previous day, names 19 trucking companies that pick up containers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. These companies owe more than $1.7 million in back pay, fines and other charges related to employee compensation.

This Port of Long Beach project would shift more containers to rail, potentially cut down on truck trips and pollution – Press Telegram

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A Port of Long Beach rail project that’s now in the planning stages could potentially eliminate several hundred commercial truck trips to and from the port each day – cutting down traffic congestion and air pollution, port officials say.

The port’s Pier G and J Double Track Access Project aims to, among other things, decrease roadway congestion by shifting more containers to rail, which would reduce the need for container-hauling semis.

When complete, the project would expand on-dock rail usage by about 157,000 cargo containers each year, and reduce the need for 615 daily truck trips, according to the port.

The port received a $14 million grant for the project in November, with the money coming from the state’s Trade Corridor Enhancement Program, which helps pay for improvements to freight corridors across California.

The track access project would add a new 9,000-foot departure track for trains serving four of Long Beach’s six container terminals. The total estimated cost is $25 million, with the port picking up the tab on the remaining $11 million.

The plan is to award a construction contract for the Pier G and J project next spring and begin construction in fall 2019, port spokesman Lee Peterson said. Construction is expected to conclude by mid-2021, according to the port.

Port Chief Executive Mario Cordero said the project would enhance both the port’s operations and environmental sustainability because moving goods by rail is four times as efficient as moving them by truck.

In a statement, Port of Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners President Tracy Egoscue said that the project would help modernize the port and strengthen its ability to contribute to the regional and state economies.

The double track access project isn’t related to the ongoing $870 million Pier B On-Dock Rail Project, a massive effort to reconfigure and expand the port’s Pier B terminal by upgrading its rail facility. That project would allow trains up to 10,000-feet long to be loaded and unloaded at on-dock rail facilities at marine terminals.

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A Port of Long Beach rail project that’s now in the planning stages could potentially eliminate several hundred commercial truck trips to and from the port each day – cutting down traffic congestion and air pollution, port officials say.

The port’s Pier G and J Double Track Access Project aims to, among other things, decrease roadway congestion by shifting more containers to rail, which would reduce the need for container-hauling semis.

China's Cosco Puts Long Beach Container Terminal Up for Sale

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China's Cosco Shipping Holdings Co. is starting the process of selling its large container terminal in Long Beach, Calif., a major gateway for U.S. trade that is expected to bring bids of more than $1 billion from some of the world's biggest port operators, people involved in the matter said.

The sale is part of an agreement with U.S. regulators that gave Cosco the green light to buy Hong Kong-based container shipping line Orient Overseas International Ltd. for $6.3 billion in July.

Orient Overseas operates the Long Beach Container Terminal under a long-term concession. Cosco agreed earlier this year with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to place it into a U.S-run trust and sell it within a year to allay national security concerns over a Chinese state entity running a major U.S. gateway.

Cfius has scuttled several international transactions in the past couple of years including Broadcom Ltd.'s $117 billion takeover of chip rival Qualcomm Inc. and the sale of MoneyGram International Inc. to Chinese billionaire Jack Ma's Ant Financial Services Group.

"Sale advisers are being hired and the expectation is for bids of more than $1 billion from global port operators and maybe pension funds and private equity," a person directly involved in the matter said. "The sale is being run by OOIL and should be completed by June at the latest."

The Long Beach terminal is one of the few in the U.S. with extensive automation and can handle some of the world's largest container vessels. The terminal is expanding to handle ships carrying more than 20,000 boxes each.

The Port of Long Beach is one of the biggest in the U.S., with more than 7.5 million containers moving in and out of the site last year, or about one fifth of U.S. trade volumes. Apart from OOIL, a number of foreign shipping operators have stakes in the port's terminals including Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company and Japan's K Line.

Seattle-based port operator SSA Terminals may also be in the running. DP World, one of the world's biggest container terminal operators, could offer a bid, but the Dubai-based company hasn't sought to own any U.S. properties since an effort to buy several American terminals in 2006 collapsed under political pressure and security concerns.

Cosco has minor investments in other U.S. ports, including another pier at Long Beach as well as at the ports of Los Angeles and Seattle.

Imports to U.S. seaports in the West Coast have been surging in recent months in an apparent push by retailers and manufacturers to pull orders forward ahead of a new round of tariffs set to hit U.S.-China trade in January.

Long Beach and the neighboring Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation's top hub for container trade and the main destination for imports from China, handled a combined 849,908 containers in October, up 17.7% from the same month last year and 10.2% from September.

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China's Cosco Shipping Holdings Co. is starting the process of selling its large container terminal in Long Beach, Calif., a major gateway for U.S. trade that is expected to bring bids of more than $1 billion from some of the world's biggest port operators, people involved in the matter said.

The sale is part of an agreement with U.S. regulators that gave Cosco the green light to buy Hong Kong-based container shipping line Orient Overseas International Ltd. for $6.3 billion in July.

LA, Long Beach ports poised to give up to $100,000 each to truck drivers for cleaner rigs

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The Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles are on the verge of establishing a joint grant program that would give dozens of truck drivers up to $100,000 each to buy newer, less-polluting rigs.

Under what’s being called the Early Adopter Truck Incentive Program, a total of $14 million is being earmarked by the ports to give to goods-hauling drivers to help them pay for new lower emission, natural gas-powered trucks. Of that amount, $8 million is coming from grant program funds provided by the California Energy Commission, while the two ports and South Coast Air Quality Management District would each provide $2 million in funding.

Truckers successfully applying to the ports’ incentive program would receive $100,000 each toward the purchase of low-emission natural gas-powered trucks. To receive the funds, applicants would already have to be part of the ports’ truck registry, which lists what trucks are authorized to enter the port complex. Grant recipients would also have to agree to scrap their existing truck in order to receive money toward the purchase of a new one.

The average cost of the new, low-emissions trucks is $200,000, which is about $50,000 more than a standard container-hauling truck, according to the ports.

According to the ports, the program is designed to incentivize wide-scale deployment of low-emissions, heavy-duty freight-movement trucks throughout the area.

Matt Miyasato, SCAQMD’s deputy executive officer for science and technology advancement, said the newer trucks are 90 percent cleaner than the standard commercial trucks on the road today and emit near-zero emissions.

“We suffer from the worst air quality in the nation,” Miyasato said Nov. 15. “The only reasonable way for us to get attainment for healthy, clean air for the region is to replace, among other things, about 200,000 on-road heavy duty trucks. We think the port is a great place to start.”

The SCAQMD’s governing board approved the program during an October meeting, and the Port of Los Angeles’ Board of Harbor Commissioners did the same on Nov. 15. Next up is Long Beach’s harbor board, which is expected to ratify the agreement during its Nov. 26 business meeting.

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The Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles are on the verge of establishing a joint grant program that would give dozens of truck drivers up to $100,000 each to buy newer, less-polluting rigs.

Process to sell one of Long Beach port’s busiest terminals begins next month, reports say

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COSCO, owner of the Long Beach Container Terminal – one of the biggest and busiest facilities in North America – will begin the process of selling its Port of Long Beach facility next month, multiple media outlets are reporting.

The terminal’s owner, Chinese investment holding company Orient Overseas International Ltd,. or OOIL, could receive billions of dollars when it sells the terminal, with one estimate coming in at more than $2.4 billion, according to a report by the Journal of Commerce.

The sale is required as a condition of OOIL being sold for $6.3 billion to China Ocean Shipping Co., commonly known as COSCO.

OOIL and COSCO agreed to sell the terminal to appease the U.S. government’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. after the foreign investment committee expressed concerns about a Chinese state-owned entity taking control of a vital American container terminal.

A sale is expected to close by mid-2019, the JOC and Wall St. Journal said.

A financial adviser with knowledge of the deal told British shipping industry publication Fairplay this week that although giants in the shipping industry are expected to follow the sales process when it starts next month, those making serious bids are expected to include pension funds and investment companies.

Company spokesperson Mark Wong confirmed the sale of the Long Beach terminal is progressing, but would not comment further, according to a Journal of Commerce report. Port of Long Beach and LBCT officials could not be reached for comment Friday, Nov. 23.

LBCT’s new owner would take over a 40-year, $4.6 billion lease with the port that OOIL signed in 2012.

The purchaser of the LBCT would be expected to take over construction of the third and final phase of the Middle Harbor Redevelopment Project, a $1.5 billion effort to remake the Long Beach Container Terminal into a 311-acre mega-facility that can process 3.3 million cargo container annually.

COSCO also has a facility at the Port of Los Angeles, the West Basin Container Terminal, but it’s not being considered for divestment, according to the Wall St. Journal.

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COSCO, owner of the Long Beach Container Terminal – one of the biggest and busiest facilities in North America – will begin the process of selling its Port of Long Beach facility next month, multiple media outlets are reporting.

The terminal’s owner, Chinese investment holding company Orient Overseas International Ltd,. or OOIL, could receive billions of dollars when it sells the terminal, with one estimate coming in at more than $2.4 billion, according to a report by the Journal of Commerce.

NY-NJ PNCT’s new gates halve reefer turn times

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New entry gates opened 11 weeks ago at the Port Newark Container Terminal (PNCT) in the Port of New York and New Jersey that are the latest stage of the terminal’s $500 million upgrade to prepare for an increase in mega-ship calls have already helped halve turn times for refrigerated containers.

The fruits of the upgrade are unfolding as the terminal, in a separate effort to improve fluidity for refrigerated containers, is about to test a program in which truckers and shippers looking to pick up or drop off a reefer at the terminal can pay $80 to do so after the normal closing time in a sort of pay-to-play extended gate. The pilot is part of the terminal’s Flex program, begun in February, which enabled truckers or shippers that paid $95.50 to get one of the first 50 gate slots in the day.

New gates — only two stages

The new gates, which opened July 16, have pared the old three-stage process to two stages, in the process reducing turn times on dry boxes by about 20 percent, terminal officials say.

The gate system is part of a terminal-wide project that includes expanding the terminal’s 263-acre footprint, improving its electrical, global positioning, and Wi-Fi equipment, and adding four super-post-Panamax cranes, two of which arrived in the spring. Two more will arrive in the coming months and 20 new straddle carriers are also set to arrive this year.

All of the port’s four main terminals have undergone varying levels of upgrade in preparation for the surge in mega-ship calls expected in the wake of the opening of the elevated Bayonne Bridge, in June 2017, and the expanded Panama Canal, in June 2016. The elevation of the bridge, from 151 to 215 feet, enabled ships of 9,500 TEU for the first time to reach three of the port’s four main terminals — PNCT, Maher Terminals, and APM Terminals. Before the elevation, vessels of that size could only reach GCT Bayonne.

In a second major upgrade under way at New York-New Jersey, APM Terminals is spending $200 million on a modernization effort that includes four new cranes, an appointment system, and the strengthening of a berth so that the terminal can handle three mega-ships at once.

PNCT officials previously predicted the new gates would cut turn times in the port by 25 percent, and they are confident that they will hit that goal once the final phase of the gate redesign — shrinking the process down to a single stage — is completed in about six months’ time.

“We're optimistic it can go higher than 25 [percent] based on the results we've seen already,” said Chris Garbarino, PNCT’s chief operating officer. The terminal did not release turn time figures.

Mega-ships: potentially large, intense unloading/loading bursts

In the run up to the completion of the Bayonne Bridge project, port stakeholders anticipated that the frequent arrival of big ships, requiring intense loading and unloading of large volumes of cargo in a short time, would stress the port’s equipment supply, drayage fleet, and other resources. So far, however, that has not happened — in large part because although the port has seen an increase in mega-ship arrivals, the rise in cargo flow has not been that large. Many of the cargo loads and unloads have been about the same as those that have arrived on smaller ships in the past.

PNCT said 75 ships that previously could not fit under the bridge have arrived at the terminal in the 15 months since the elevation of the bridge, or about five a month. The number of mega-ships arriving at the port as a whole has surged in recent months. Nearly 19 ships of more than 10,000 TEU a month arrived at the port between May and July 2018, compared with about seven a month from July to September 2017, immediately after the elevated bridge opened, according to figures from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

By the end of the year, PNCT’s development will have increased the terminal’s capacity from 1.5 million TEU, of which the terminal utilizes on average 87 percent, to 2 million TEU, with an increase to 2.3 million TEU by the end of 2019, according to PNCT officials. A wharf improvement project, including the dredging of 400 feet of berth space, will enable the terminal to handle two 14,000-TEU mega-ships at a time, instead of one at present.

The improved reefer turn times stem in large part from a terminal redesign that has put reefer stacks, generating equipment, and labor working on them closer together, and by increasing the number of reefer lanes from two to six, PNCT officials said.

Reefer cargo volumes worldwide grew by 8 percent in 2017, over the year before, and are expected to expand by 4.5 percent a year for the next several years, in part due to a trend towards moving such goods in containers, and away from bulk ships, according to Drewry.

The Port of New York and New Jersey is the largest port on the East Coast by loaded reefer volume. But the port’s market share has declined since 2010, from 23.8 percent to 19.1 percent in 2017, according to data from PIERS, a sister product of JOC.com. In second-place, the Port of Wilmington, Delaware, has also seen its share decline over the period, from 13.4 percent to 12.3 percent, while the share of third-ranked Port of Philadelphia has grown from 7.9 percent in 2010 to 11.2 percent in 2017, the figures show.

New York-New Jersey’s share of the reefer market ticked up to 19.04 percent in the first seven months of 2018, handling 152,802 TEU, the PIERS figures show. The port’s reefer cargo volume increased by 7.8 percent over that period, compared with the period in 2017, PIERS figures show. Wilmington’s reefer share rose to 12.8 percent and Philadelphia increased its market share to 12.34 percent, over the same period, the figures show. The Port of Philadelphia is expected to face a challenge for market share in the coming years from Wilmington, 30 miles or so nearer to the mouth of the Delaware River, where United Arab Emirates-based Gulftainer has signed a 50-year agreement to operate the Port of Wilmington, and spend $600 million to quintuple its cargo capacity.

Possible appointment system

Jim Pelliccio, president and CEO of PNCT, said the terminal is considering implementing an appointment system next year, mainly to improve the flow of information rather than improve fluidity, because the terminals’ new gate system has already done that, he said. GCT Bayonne opened the first appointment system in the port in December 2016.

The gate redesign has freed up workers to focus on other areas, among them the dry-container Flex program, which PNCT officials say has drawn a steady stream of users willing to pay extra to get on of the first slots of the day, usually to pick up or drop off time-sensitive cargo or to ensure they meet a delivery deadline. The program enables truckers to not only start early, but to jump the line of trucks that typically assembles at the terminal gates before it opens at 6 a.m. and get served immediately, Garbarino said.

The program is a smaller, trial version of larger-scale programs used in other ports that offer improved service to beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) that are willing to pay more and also seek to improve the general fluidity of trucks in and out of the port. In Southern California, the ports of Los Angeles-Long Beach are mulling a flat fee of $63.04 per FEU on both the day and night shifts, to replace the congestion pricing fee of $144.14 per FEU that the ports levied 13 years ago on trucks arriving during the day shift.

Other ports are charging a fee to pay for longer gate hours, among them the port of Montreal, which this summer began charging a $35 per container flat fee that enabled the port terminal to open until 11 p.m., instead of closing at about 2:30 p.m. in the past.

The Flex program for reefers is like a smaller version of an extended-gate program. Truckers or BCOs can pay $80 to pick up or drop off a refrigerated container later than the usual closing time of 4:30 p.m. The appointments could be booked by an app on the truckers’ mobile phone that the terminal has developed, similar to the one currently available for the early morning slots, Garbarino said.

“In a lot of cases it's going to generate one additional reefer [move] — receive or deliver one more move by having that additional time,” Garbarino said. “We've talked with some of the trucking companies that handle a lot of refrigerated cargo and there definitely is interest, and they can see that there would be times where they would definitely see the advantage to having an option like that.”

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New entry gates opened 11 weeks ago at the Port Newark Container Terminal (PNCT) in the Port of New York and New Jersey that are the latest stage of the terminal’s $500 million upgrade to prepare for an increase in mega-ship calls have already helped halve turn times for refrigerated containers.

State Updates: Relevant Legislation Moves, Stalls in States; Voters to consider Infrastructure Ballot in November

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California's Governor signed two bills into law, both effective January 1, 2019: one authorizes local agencies to establish an authority for an infrastructure fund and to finance inland port infrastructure; the other holds customers liable should they hire port drayage services who have unpaid wage, tax, and workers' compensation liability. Alaska passed an independent contractor definitition law and created a penalty for misclassification. New York introduced a bill that would empower state police to patrol the Port of New York waterfront and would dissolve the Waterfront Commission. Rhode Island passed a bill prohibitng indemnity agreements in motor carrier transportation contracts. Louisiana unsuccesfully attempted to define motor carrier in transportation contracts. South Carolina had two Port Enhancement Zone Bills die upon adjournment. and Vermont saw five bills concerning the classificiation of employees die upon adjournment.

In November, multiple states will have infrastructure investment measures on their ballots. In Maine, Question 3 on the ballot will ask if the voter favors a $106,000,000 bond issue. $101,000,000 would be used for construction activities on the sate's highway, bridges, and port infrastructure.

In Missouri, voters could elect to increase the state's motor fuel taxes. The funds would be used to enforce traffic laws. Additionally, some of the funds would be used for an Emergency State Freight Bottleneck Fund, which would invest in road improvements.

Meanwhile, back in California, Proposition 6 will ask voters if they would like to repeal Senate Bill 1, which was signed into law in 2017 and increased CA state gas and diesel taxes. SB1 was projected to raise more than $5.2 billion annually for transportation investments in the state of California. Beyond repealing SB1, and ending a significant source of funding for the state's transportation system, Proposition 6 would also require that any future gas tax increases in California be approved by voters, instead in Caliofnira be approved by voters, instead of passed through the state legislature.